• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.45-51
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• 2015

Background: The current study examined health-related quality of life (QoL) for patients with esophageal/gastric cardia precursor lesions or cancer before and after treatment to facilitate improved prevention and treatment. Materials and Methods: Patients with different stages of esophageal/gastric cardia lesions completed two QoL questionnaires, EORTC QLQ-C30 and supplemental QLQ-OES 18, before primary treatment, and at 1, 6 and 12 months after treatment. Results: Fifty-nine patients with precursor lesions, 57 with early stage cancer, and 43 with advanced cancer responded to our survey. Patients with precursor lesions or early stage cancer reported better QoL overall than those with advanced cancer before treatment (p<0.01). Global QoL scores before treatment and at 1 month after treatment were $71{\pm}9$ versus $69{\pm}9$ (p>0.01), $71{\pm}8$ versus $61{\pm}11$ (p<0.01), $67{\pm}11$ versus $62{\pm}9$ (p<0.01) for three stages of lesions. At 6 months after treatment, some QoL measures recovered gradually in precursor lesion and early cancer patients, while some continuously deteriorated in advanced cancer patients. At 12 months, all QoL scores were comparable to baseline for patients with precursor lesions (p>0.01), while global QoL, social, pain, and insomnia scores for early stage and advanced cancer were inferior to corresponding baseline levels (difference between means>5, p<0.01). At this time point, compared with patients with early stage cancer, those with advanced cancer showed worse QoL with all function and most symptom measures (p<0.01). Conclusions: Patients with precursor lesions or early stage esophageal/gastric cardia cancer show better QoL than those with advanced cancer. This indicates that screening, early diagnosis and treatment may improve the QoL for esophageal/gastric cardia cancer patients. Target intervention and counseling should be given by health care providers during treatment and follow-up to facilitate QoL improvement.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.11
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• pp.5415-5420
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• 2012

The aim of this study was to investigate QoL (quality of life) of patients with esophageal cancer in northern Henan province, China, and to accurate evaluate and reflect the relationship between patient characteristics and QoL. In the high risk area of esophageal cancer in the north of Henan province, 735 patients with esophageal cancer were investigated. The Eysenck personality questionnaire (EPQ) and QoL were analyzed by using the questionnaire of general situation, EPQ, QLQ-C30 and QLQ-OES18. The effects of personal character on the QoL of esophageal carcinoma patients were analyzed by SPSS 11.0 software. The QoL of esophageal cancer patients in Northern Henan region was significantly affected by character. The difference between choleric and type of melancholic temperament types was significant (P<0.01), also in OESEAT, OESTA, OESCO and OESSP (P<0.05). Differences in personal character can thus influence the quality of esophageal cancer patient lives.